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'Queer voices were strong' at Katholikentag, group says (New Ways Ministry)
Posted on 05/29/2026 22:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
During the gathering, which took place in Würzburg from May 13 to 17, “more than 200 people attended a queer worship service,” according to New Ways Ministry. Held inside the Order of Saint Augustine’s church, the service was “prepared by the initiative #OutInChurch, the Augustinian Monastery in Würzburg, the Federation of German Catholic Youth (BDKJ), the Network of Catholic Lesbians, the Ecumenical Working Group on Homosexuality and the Church (HuK), and ‘Queer and Christian in the Diocese of Würzburg.’”
New Ways Ministry was the subject of a notification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1999) and a statement by the US bishops (2011). Pope Francis, however, praised Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, in a handwritten letter, and subsequently met with Sister Gramick and other leaders of the group.
Nigerian priest found guilty of abusing adult women in Texas (OSV News)
Posted on 05/29/2026 22:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Father Anthony Odiong, who was arrested in Florida in 2024 for child pornography, also “fathered at least one child with another woman in Louisiana who had been under his spiritual direction,” according to the prosecution’s DNA evidence.
The case “highlights the Catholic Church’s ongoing challenges in addressing clergy sexual predation of adults in situations where they are vulnerable, particularly in relationships of pastoral care or spiritual guidance, while states such as Texas and Georgia have passed laws to criminalize such acts,” noted Gina Christian of OSV News.
Washington Nationals official fired after video that implied discrimination against Catholic pitcher (EWTN News)
Posted on 05/29/2026 22:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
“We were horrified by the comments that were made on the video,” said team business president Jason Sinnarajah. “The comments don’t reflect us as an organization, our values and who we are. We took action right away, and that individual is no longer employed by the team.”
Bishop reports unprecedented number of converts in Estonia (National Catholic Register)
Posted on 05/29/2026 22:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Bishop Philippe Jourdan received 48 adults into the Church at Easter; 33 of them were unbaptized.
“We had never had so many,” Bishop Jourdan told the National Catholic Register. “Previously, catechumens were often in the 30-to-40 age bracket. Now, they are much more often in their 20s.”
New Chaldean Patriarch enthroned; vows to preserve Church's liturgical traditions (Syriac Press)
Posted on 05/29/2026 22:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Syriac Press reported that the new Patriarch outlined six priorities, including unity in the Church, the spiritual life, and “authentic identity”: “preserving liturgical traditions, the Syriac-Aramaic language, customs, and Eastern Christian spiritual philosophy.”
Outgoing US religious freedom commissioner highlights worsening global crisis (EWTN News)
Posted on 05/29/2026 21:05 PM (CatholicCulture.org - Catholic World News)
Stephen Schneck lamented the worsening situation in India and China, the world’s two most populous nations.
Schneck said that India “is among the worst countries in the global community in regards to religious freedom from the analysis that has been done by the commission over the last decade or so.”
The plight of religious believers in China “gets worse and worse,” he added, and “itʼs not just limited to individuals. Weʼre talking about whole populations here—the Uyghur Muslims, the Tibetan Buddhists, Christians.”
Vance, Echoing Pope Leo’s Encyclical, Says Decisions About Life and Death ‘Must Be Made by Humans, Not Machines’
Posted on 05/29/2026 20:00 PM (The Daily Register)
Catholicism Makes Unexpected Inroads in Secular Estonia
Posted on 05/29/2026 19:50 PM (The Daily Register)